Patriots Can't Drive-choke Problems

JIM DONALDSON - Providence Journal-Bulletin

September 11, 1995|JIM DONALDSON

FOXBORO, Mass. - — Just in case you hadn't gotten the message while watching the first 59 minutes of Miami's 20-3 pounding of the Patriots Sunday at Foxboro Stadium, it was brought to you in large, colorful letters by your friendly New England car dealer in the final seconds.

Each Sunday, they select a Drive of the Week, which is flashed on the message board just before the end of the game.

This week, it was the Patriots' 50-yard drive to a 29-yard field goal, the only points they managed.

Instead of an expected offensive explosion, with Dan Marino and Drew Bledsoe tossing bombs, the New England offense fizzled.

It was the kind of game that drives Bill Parcells crazy.

By the time you read this, Parcells and his staff already will have been at work for hours.

"This is about as disappointed in this team as I've been in a long time," he said.

But Parcells points the finger only at himself.

"I am responsible. When you've got a team that goes out and plays like that, you have to look at yourself first. We'll be meeting early in the morning. We are going to find out exactly what happened."

Parcells probably didn't get a whole lot of sleep. And his players didn't need any because, as Parcells said: "We were sleepwalking out there."

This was a nightmare for New England, which has been dreaming of AFC East supremacy. But the Dolphins still are the team to beat, and the Pats have yet to prove they can beat them or even score a touchdown against them.

The last time the teams had met, October in Foxboro, the Dolphins won 23-3 in a game Parcells last week referred to not as a loss but as "a mercy killing."

This one may have been worse because the Dolphins certainly weren't at their best.

Miami gave the Patriots more chances than baseball has given Steve Howe.

Marino threw an interception at his own 22. But Bledsoe threw an interception on the next play.

O.J. McDuffie fumbled away a punt at the Miami 24. But the Patriots wound up closer to midfield than the end zone, losing 22 yards back to the 46 in four plays.

Bernie Parmalee lost a fumble at the New England 7, after which the Patriots drove to the 1, where, on fourth down, rookie running back Curtis Martin was dropped for a loss.

"It's a tough area of the field to throw," Parcells said.

"We thought maybe we could catch them. We thought, percentagewise, that might be the best choice. As it turned out, they blitzed against it and kind of caught it."

"A Parcells team isn't the type to try and trick you," linebacker Bryan Cox said. "They do what they do, and then it's a question of who's better, man-to-man."

There was no question who was better Sunday.

Not on a day when Miami running back Terry Kirby threw for more touchdowns than Bledsoe.

There was evidence that this wasn't going to be the Patriots' day when Martin, who ran for 30 yards on the first play of the opening 17-14 victory over Cleveland, was dropped for no gain on his first carry.

"Doing a good job against the run is always a key," Cox said.

With the Patriots held to 39 rushing yards on 21 attempts, Bledsoe found himself passing under pressure.

"I don't think it was any more pressure than Marino was under," Parcells said.

The difference was that when the Pats tried to pressure Marino, sending cornerback Maurice Hurst on a blitz late in the first quarter, Marino burned them with a 67-yard TD pass to Irving Fryar.

"We worked all week on that pass to Irving," Marino said. "The Patriots like the corner blitz, and we caught them. That's what makes football fun."

This was no fun for the Patriots.

There's still a long road ahead. But the Dolphins have got it in gear, while the Patriots seem to be having clutch problems.